Sunday, October 30, 2016

"The question here remains how a contract or agreement be signed and land ownership in a Public entity without agreed value of each piece of land? Also there was no verification and documents from Land Office provided that Azimio Housing Estate Limited owns 20,000 acres of land at Kigamboni for development. Therefore the signed agreement is not legal and void. Also the agreement was not vetted by the Attorney General (AG) which makes the matter more questionable...The audit scrutiny of such joint venture project revealed the following issues:...i. Overvalued price of Land to a tune of TZS 835,956,806 per Acre...ii. NSSF own land plot of 267 acres acquired for TZS 4,500,000...iii. The amount contributed by Azimio housing is questionable... iv. Financial capacity of Azimio Housing Estates Limited is questionable by having an issued and paid up share capital TZS 10,000,000...v. Lack of evidence for due diligence done with respect to Azimio Housing Limited and its affiliates...vi. NSSF awarded three tenders to owner of Azimio Housing Estates Limited who owns another Company called ZAK Solutions (Tanzania) Limited with tune of TZS 10,243,547,619.2... In addition, we were not availed with any documentation or title to substantiate that Azimio Housing Estates owns additional 19,700 acres of land...." -

"NSSF entered into a Joint Venture with M/s Azimio Housing Estates to form a Special Purpose Vehicle Company, M/s Hifadhi Builders Limited. Under the contract, M/s Azimio Housing Estates would be responsible to develop 20,000 acres of land situated at Kigamboni of which the First Phase covers 300 acres. In this Joint Venture, NSSF holds 45 percent while M/s Azimio Housing Estates holds 55 percent shares. The total estimated cost of the project was USD 653.44 million and the terms of capital sharing is that, NSSF will fund 45 percent of total project cost and M/s Azimio Housing Estates will fund 35 percent cash plus the value of land which will be regarded as 20 percent. A review of title deeds submitted indicated that M/s Azimio Housing Estates owns two plots with title deeds number 81828 and 105091 for lands which are both located at Rasi Dege measuring 1.98 and 114.11 hectares respectively which were transferred to Hifadhi Builders by M/s Azimio Housing Estates for the First Phase of the project. Using a standard conversion rate of 2.47 acres per hectare, the two tittle deeds give a total of 286.74 acres which is 13.26 acres below the total land required for the First Phase of 300 acres. I have not been availed with title deeds for M/s Azimio Housing Estates contribution which made it difficult to substantiate existence of the plots. In the absence of title deeds, ownership of 19,700 acres being 20 percent contribution by M/s Azimio Housing Estates cannot be substantiated, therefore NSSF money might be subjected to risk of loss. Management is advised to communicate with the Ministry of Land to establish the legal ownership of 19,700 acres of land by M/s Azimio Housing Estates in the project area. Title deeds for the remaining 13.26 acres should be availed" -

Tanzania's solid stance against Morroco's colonial occupation of Western Sahara was inculcated in our consciousness as we grew up in the twilight of Mwalimu Nyerere's regime. I still remember how Willy Gamba, a character in a popular novel, Njama, that the late Aristablus Elvis Musiba published in 1981, moved us when he thus described another tough character known as Veronica Amadu:

Despite all these diplomatic efforts, Morocco quit the OAU in 1984 immediately after Mwalimu Nyerere was elected the chair of OAU. Mobutu's then Zaire supported it. According to Clifford D. May of the New York Times, Nyerere "made no comment". He must have been so disappointed because of the failure to resolve the question.

Membe's successor, Dr. Augustine Mahiga, seems more interested in Tanzania pending investment agreements with Morocco of about two billion US dollars. After his UN speech on behalf of President Magufuli which called for the decolonization of Western Sahara, he is now preoccupied with how much we can get out of 150 or so Moroccan delegates. His press statement of October 20th is quoted in a government newspaper, Daily News, as saying: "We welcome them and we have no reason of not endorsing our support".

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Swahili, you are based in Dar es Salaam, the Mecca of the Tanzanian music scene. Which problems do you have as a musician in Dar?

I face several problems and challenges. First of all, it's hard to get space to present my music. And the people still do not believe that traditional music is good music which needs to get attention. You need to cultivate your own culture. You know, a country which has no culture is not free.

You are saying Tanzania misses its culture?

Yes, Tanzania misses its culture! Songs of our culture and our culture as a whole are not been given space. The commercial music has taken over the whole country and we as traditional musicians, representing and cultivating our culture, have been left out.

What do you think where does that come from?

I think it has to do with commercial musicians who are seen as examples nowadays. I think the current society does not know about traditional musicians who were successful. I mean there are legendary ones like Tatu Nane who among the first ones to successfully present traditional music even far away. And they were being loved for that. Nowadays young musicians heavily copy western music and it seems like this is the music which gets attention and with which you can make more money. Local music is said to be music which is difficult to listen to. But if people would listen more to local traditional music they would get more used to it.

Can the government improve the situation of traditional music in Tanzania?

The government and the media need to bring back musical infrastructure so that people can rediscover their own society. People need to hear songs from former times. And the government needs to open up much more music academies. Then people will be able to know traditional music instruments and to create their own music. Without this it will be difficult, because the society has forgotten its origins. People have forgotten what is part of their own African identity. Now they need to get food which is not yet there, but which they need to know.

You play the Kora, a typical West African instrument even though you come from Tanga, a city close to the Kenyan border. How did this come about?

You're right, the Kora comes from West Africa. But I met a European musician who played the Kora and that inspired me. I wanted to play the Kora and to mix it with my own music, because it matches perfectly with my own voice and my own style of music. Also originally the Digo people migrated from West Africa long time ago, so my family roots have kind of a West African origin.

Where did you learn to play the Kora?

I was lucky to be taught to play the Kora by Ebrima Mbye from Gambia when he was staying on Zanzibar for six months. He worked as a volunteer at the Dhow Music Academy and I had the opportunity to stay there as well. He taught me how to play Kora in a typical Gambian way, which is the original one. It therefore dominates my own style of playing the Kora nowadays.

Storytelling is an important element of the Digo culture as well as of the Kora culture. Do you see yourself more as a musician or as a storyteller?

I see myself as a musician who tells stories. In my music I talk about where we come from, where we are and where we are heading to. Through the way I am doing this I try to remind the society of its own people and ethnic groups and to show them that they still exist and that they are still able to influence things.

Your grandparents introduced you to the world of Digo music and passed you on the knowledge about it. What role do your grandparents have and how do they influence you nowadays?

My grandparents still influence my music even though they are no longer there. I still draw on the advices they gave me – they make me unique, they help me to be different. When I composed my melodies my grandfather gave me some assistance sometimes: he told me what to do and what to change. When I wrote my lyrics he told me when I did mistakes and corrected them. He is therefore a person who is an important part in my life. He pushed me and made me understand many things.

Karibu kwenye ulingo wa kutafakari kuhusu tunapotoka,tulipo,tuendako na namna ambavyo tutafika huko tuendako/Welcome to a platform for reflecting on where we are coming from, where we are, where we are going and how we will get there